Beatles Honored With Historical Marker at JFK Airport

The 50th anniversary of the Beatles‘ first visit to America is certainly getting its due as a pop-culture milestone, with celebrations hosted by the Grammys, David Letterman and CBS. But it’ll also receive a more lasting honor, courtesy of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City.

As any diehard Beatles fan knows, JFK is where the group landed when they arrived in the States, and where they gave their first press conference for American reporters. Rolling Stone reports that the New York Port Authority has announced plans to install a historic marker in the airport’s Central Terminal Area, which is the spot where that press conference took place.

The marker is set to be unveiled during a public ceremony on Feb. 7. According to a press release, Port Authority executive director Pat Foye and deputy executive director Deb Gramiccioni will preside over the ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at 11:30AM ET.

The band’s U.S. visit officially marked the arrival of worldwide Beatlemania; as Cynthia Lennon later recalled, “All we knew was that a couple of the records had done well in the States. We believed there was still a huge mountain to climb if the Beatles were really to make it there.”

“There were millions of kids at the airport, which nobody had expected,” addedPaul McCartney. “We heard about it in mid-air. There were journalists on the plane, and the pilot had rang ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.’ We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.’”

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